[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 55 (Thursday, April 5, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E394-E395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   THE UPCOMING 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT--MANY 
       ACHIEVEMENTS, YET IMPORTANT PROVISIONS NOT YET IMPLEMENTED

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 5, 2018

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on March 22 I chaired a hearing 
at the Helsinki Commission on the achievements, with a special focus on 
the unfinished business, of the April 10, 1998 Good Friday Agreement. 
As Members know so well, the signing of the Good Friday Agreement 20 
years ago was truly historic, extraordinarily difficult to achieve, a 
remarkable framework for peace, and the hope for beginning of 
reconciliation.
  In its most important provisions, the agreement launched a series of 
challenging protocols, by which the leaders of the nationalist and 
unionist communities in Northern Ireland agreed to a better governance, 
and peaceful resolution of differences. Prisoner releases, new 
government structures, British demilitarization of the North, the 
decommissioning of paramilitary weapons and systemic police reform were 
achieved to varying degrees over the last 20 years. In the 30 years 
between 1969 and 1998, approximately 3,500 people were killed in 
political violence, while in the 20 years since the Good Friday 
Agreement fewer than 100 have lost their lives.
  I have personally chaired 16 congressional hearings and markups of 
legislation on human rights issues in Northern Ireland, most of them 
with a special focus on police reform and the need to establish a 
public, independent judicial inquiry into state-sponsored collusion in 
the murder of human rights attorney Patrick Finucane and others who 
were gunned down or, in the case of Rosemary Nelson, killed by a bomb. 
I also offered legislation that was adopted by the House of 
Representatives that put the House on record condemning violence and 
promoting peace and justice in Northern Ireland and police reform. And 
I just recently introduced H. Res. 777 which calls for a recommittal of 
the United States, the British, and all parties, including the Republic 
of Ireland, to the peace process.

[[Page E395]]

  The most contentious of my amendments over the years, one of which 
became law, resulted in suspending all U.S. support for and exchanges 
with the British police force in Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster 
Constabulary, or RUC, until standards were met to vet RUC officers who 
engaged in human rights abuses. Those new standards were set and 
eventually then-President Bush was able to certify, in accordance with 
my law, that human rights principles were part of police training going 
forward, both in the RUC and in its reformed successor, the Police 
Service of Northern Ireland, or PSNI. With the improvements, the police 
exchanges were resumed.
  That is the good news. But as the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday 
Agreement milestone approaches, serious attention and effort to be paid 
to achieving the dream. First and foremost, the government in Northern 
Ireland seems unable to consistently function or even constitute 
itself. Also, after 20 years, despite many obvious successes and 
benefits of the Good Friday Agreement, and although no one wants to 
scrap it, no one would want to return to the killing, the 
reconciliation to some extent has stalled. One of the reasons is that 
long-standing cases have not been resolved.
  Geraldine Finucane, widow of murdered human rights lawyer Patrick 
Finucane, submitted testimony for my March 22nd hearing. And she points 
out, and I quote in part, ``My family has campaigned for a public 
inquiry into Pat's murder, but the British government has repeatedly 
failed to establish one. Instead, they have instigated one confined 
investigation after another, claiming to want to examine the facts or 
get to the truth, but always in a process conducted away from public 
view. One cannot but wonder at the pointlessness of conducting 
investigation after investigation that are doomed to fail, no matter 
how forceful the conclusions, because they lack the transparency 
required to attain public confidence.''
  As Geraldine points out further in her testimony, ``the 1998 
agreement represent a new beginning that would mark a point from which 
the new future for everyone in Ireland, north and south, could be 
launched. What was not appreciated or acknowledged, however, was the 
fact that moving forward also meant dealing with the past.'' And of 
course, that is something that this Commission and my Subcommittee on 
Human Rights has tried to do for the last 20-plus years.
  I would like to just point out too, testimony that's been provided to 
us by the Committee on the Administration of Justice, again, a very 
important quote from them, ``In a highly disturbing development, and 
notwithstanding the reality that only a small number of legacy cases 
relate to British soldiers, a recent report of the Commons Defense 
Select Committee called for the enactment of a statute of limitations 
covering all troubles related to incidents involving members of the 
armed forces. This concept effectively means a selective amnesty for 
crimes committed by British soldiers.'' The Commons Defense Select 
Committee also suggested that it be extended to the RUC and other 
security force members. This position is, of course, completely 
contrary to human rights standards and, if were enacted, would probably 
be found unlawful by the courts. Nevertheless, the U.K. government has 
said that it will include the proposed in a forthcoming consultation on 
the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. That is a dangerous 
backtracking on the part of the British government. Hopefully it will 
cease and desist in moving in that direction.

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